Sep 23, 2013

04:29 AM

Connecticut Casinos Have Cheaters on Their Radar

In this Sept. 18, 2013, photo, a security camera hangs above slot machines at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. As table games spread across the Northeast, resorts are using their own intelligence network more than ever to stay ahead of suspect players _ professional thieves as well as card counters _ who can easily hit multiple casinos in the span of a few days. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

"The man at the poker table had a ball cap pulled down almost to his nose, but his glance up at a television screen revealed a familiar face to Mohegan Sun’s surveillance cameras: A photograph of the known card cheater had been sent by bulletin to casinos around the country," the story opens, going on to say:

Within hours, the bettor was arrested, accused of marking cards with invisible ink.

“The officer who identified him, basically she had a ‘Holy crap!’ moment,” said Jay Lindroos, the casino’s surveillance director. “She saw the face and said, ‘I recognize that guy!”’

Casinos from the U.S. to Australia use their own intelligence network to warn one another about cheaters. As table games spread across the Northeast, resorts are using it more than ever to stay ahead of suspect players — professional thieves and card counters — who can easily hit multiple casinos in the span of a few days.

Mohegan Sun, one of the world’s largest casinos, began sharing intelligence a decade ago with its giant, next-door rival in southeastern Connecticut, the Foxwoods Resort Casino. Although it was once less common for casinos to talk with competitors, the online network has evolved through mutual self-interest.

“If something happens at Foxwoods at 1 o’clock, we’ll be aware of it no later than 2, 2:30,” said Joseph Lavin, director of public safety for the Mohegan Tribe, which owns and operates the casino. “It won’t take more than a day or so before that information goes to Atlantic City, goes to Pennsylvania, goes out to upstate New York.”